You Will See The Ring Before I Forgive You
by QueenBattousai
Summary: (Santa Clause:Ring) Thirty years ago she died, trapped in a well for seven days. But, only one person and his wife knows how she died, and he's the only one who can save her soul, the soul of a girl who never sleeps...(Chap. 5) Please R&R! I need reviews
1. The Good Bye From the Well

You Will See the Ring Before I Forgive You A "The Santa Clause"/"The Ring" fanfic  
  
By Queen Battousai  
  
A/N: OK, I watched "The Ring" with a friend of mine over the summer. Truth be told, couldn't sleep without a light on, couldn't be alone in a room with a blank TV, and couldn't really go near water, except for the toilet and the shower for months. Well, during this time, as I am an Angelic Layer fan, I designed an Angel who has long black hair covering her eyes, and I called her Samara. It seemed to help, so, I came up with this story idea. Remembering Neil was a psychiatrist in "The Santa Clause" movies after watching "The Santa Clause 2", I decided to star myself as a psychiatrist for the supernatural. Samara Morgan is one of my patients. It's helped me with my "The Ring" phobia, and I hope that if you've seen "The Ring" and can't sleep from it, that this fic will help you too. Now, sit back and enjoy! ^_^  
  
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Chapter 1: The Good bye from the Well  
  
"Samara!" Called a young man, who looked to be in his early twenties, as he searched the cabins his little friend, Samara Morgan had told him she would be staying at with her family. There was no sign of the girl, none at all. Usually she would come running at him, all smiles as he greeted her in his usual fashion. He was hoping he would get the chance to talk to her, as he was getting married soon and all. "Samara!" He called again, looking around for the young, black haired girl. "Now could she."  
"Bernardo!" Bernard stopped in his tracks, returning his gaze to his fiancée, Rebecca Verde. "The manager says the family left two days ago!" *That's not right; Samara said they were going to be here for a week. This has only been three days.*  
"I'm going to walk along the grounds a bit, stretch my legs."  
"Alright sweetie, but don't be too long!" Bernard smiled. He loved Rebecca more then anything, and he was hoping Samara would do the same. He hoped of adopting Samara from her adopted parents and raise her with Rebecca as their own daughter. People at home might talk, but it was better then Samara being forced to sleep in a barn loft, when the horses kept her awake. Bernard shivered. Samara always said she hated horses. * "My father loved the horses more then me. I hate the horses, I want to destroy them"* Bernard shivered again, walking along the grounds as he searched around for the cabin that Samara and her family would have been staying in. It didn't take him long to find what looked like a round well, covered with a round, flat piece of stone. Tired from his walking, he sat upon the top of the well to rest. It was only then did he hear a faint cry emit from the depths of the well.  
"Help."  
"WHAAA!!!" Bernard leapt off the top of the well, as another cry carried up.  
"Help." Bernard, worried someone might be trapped down in the well, quickly pushed the seal off, letting light fall into its depths. "Help me." the cry came again, this time louder from the absence of the stone seal.  
"Hello? Who's down there?" Bernard called, leaning on the edge of the well.  
"Bernard." Bernard froze, he knew that voice.  
"Samara?!"  
"Bernard, I won't last much longer. I've been down her for seven days, with no food, and I can't survive anymore on just water."  
"Samara! Hang on; I'll call the fire department and."  
"Forget it." Bernard froze again. "I only wanted to get out to say good bye Bernard, to you. And that. I love you." Bernard didn't move, tears starting to slide down his face and into the well. He could here them splash on the water. "Good bye. Bernard." Then the voice faded as Bernard could hear the sound of something sliding into the water. Only one more sound echoed from the depths of the well, haunting Bernard for years. ".Seven.days.." 


	2. Something's Not Right

Chapter 2: Something's Not Right  
  
Bernard shot bolt upright, breathing hard at the dream he had just had. His face was wet, but he didn't know if it was from the cold sweat dripping from his brow, or the warm tears running down his cheeks. His eyes were wide with fear as he remembered what happened thirty years ago. He barely felt the slight movement at his side as his wife, Rebecca, sat up to see what was wrong. "Bernardo?" Bernard snapped out of his stupor to look over at his wife, the light from outside showing off her shapely silhouette. It reflected off the mirror on Bernard's side of the bed, shining off her beautiful green eyes. They were indeed beautiful, but tonight, they were not filled with love like they usually did, they were filled with worry. "It was about Samara again, wasn't it?" Bernard didn't say anything, just nod and look away. It wasn't long before he could feel Rebecca's fingers against his face, sliding down his cheek as she tried to wipe away his tears of pain.  
"How do you always know what's bothering me?" Bernard asked, turning towards her with a weak smile.  
"Call it wife's intuition." Rebecca replied a smile on her face before she bent forward and kissed Bernard softly on the lips. "Now, get some sleep. You have big day tomorrow. Almost Christmas, remember? Buenos Noches." Bernard smiled at his wife as she lay down and turn over, facing the window. He had long since gotten used to her rough, slightly Spanish accent, which was from being born and raised in Madrid, Spain. Even though Bernard wasn't sure of where he was born, he was sure of one thing, he didn't want to leave the home he lived at now. Leaving it all behind would be horrible, but not as horrible as the thought of losing Rebecca. He loved her too much. Sighing in fatigue, Bernard lay down next to his wife of thirty years, and forcing a small smile, wrapped his arms around her and fell fast asleep.  
  
"Work. too. damn.early." Growled Bernard as he trudged to work, scuffing snow on his boots, moving to the center of Elfsburg. He knew he shouldn't be grumbling, beings as he needed to watch over the repair and cleaning of the workshop in which he worked. A chimney had been destroyed, and the floor of the workshop was covered in coal bits and dust. "Curse that Toy Santa, curse him I say! Next time Curtis comes up with a crazy idea like that I'll kill 'em!" As Head Elf, it became habit being slightly rough around the edges, as he had to order other elves around and make sure they did their work, and it may not look like it but it was tough job, having to work late hours and get up REALLY early in the morning. It was a shock Rebecca hadn't divorced him yet. But he knew deep inside his heart that Rebecca wasn't worried about him working so hard, because it made him tired at night so he could sleep, it was the fact that he wasn't sleeping well as of late that got her worried. *Lo siento Rebecca.* Bernard thought as he continued his way down the street. He was really sorry about making her worry, but some odd reason he couldn't stop dreaming about Samara. It had been thirty years ago that Samara died. Why was she haunting him now?  
"Bernard, watch out!" If someone hadn't yelled, Bernard would have never noticed Chevy, a reindeer in training barreling down towards him. As quickly as his strong legs could carry him he leapt out of the way, landing after doing a flip onto the stone railing of a nearby house. "Still got the samurai in ya, hey Bernard?" Bernard turned away from the reindeer still running, or, flying down the street to see Curtis looking up at him, smiling. Bernard smirked, making a small laugh as he jumped down. He then silently started walking down the street again, his eyes focused on the street ahead of him. He knew what Curtis was talking about, his old days as a samurai, over a hundred years ago.  
Bernard had joined the Imperial army during the Meiji Revolution and trained as a samurai, fighting and killing as Hitokiri until the Hitokiri Battousai, a man slayer who was known to be undefeatable, disappeared. Bernard took that as his cue and left the army as well. He still wasn't sure why he had joined in the first place; he guessed the thought of fighting with swords excited him sometimes. He still had his swords and dagger on special hangers in his house, nice and sharp just in case he needed them again. "Bernard?" Bernard looked back at Curtis, the younger elf looking up at him with a questioning look. "Are you OK, you look kinda pale."  
"I'm fine Curtis; just didn't get enough sleep last night, that's all." Bernard wasn't exactly telling the truth, but he wasn't exactly lying either. Truth be told, he hadn't been sleeping well for almost a week, and several times after the nightmare, he had woken up for long intervals of time through out the night.  
"Are you sure?"  
"I'm sure." Curtis didn't speak much after that, making Bernard guess that he wasn't totally convinced. It wasn't until they reached the front stairs of the workshop did Bernard's real fatigue show, as he was slow and kinda jerky climbing the stairs.  
"Bernard, for God's sake man, are you sure you're alright?" Curtis demanded, grabbing Bernard's sleeve almost making the tired elf fall over.  
"Curtis, I'm fine. But if you don't stop pestering me, you're going to be the one not OK!" Curtis took this as a sign to back off, as he knew better then to mess with Bernard after watching him take out two stray giant toy soldiers with his sword. He was so fast you could've sworn he didn't hit them at all, until they fell to the ground in pieces.  
  
Bernard could hardly keep up with what his boss was saying. Sleep was trying to sneak up on him, and it was getting hard to stay awake. But did he tell his boss he was too tired to work? Nope. He couldn't trust Curtis to take care of his job for one minute after that whole Toy Santa incident. And they were still trying to clean the mess! It was harder to clean out coal dust then the elves thought, as it strangely didn't like to be cleaned with water. His boss, Santa Claus, and his new wife, Carol had come home from their honeymoon early to help with the clean up. Santa had the strangest irking that Bernard and Curtis couldn't handle it by themselves. And he was right, but Bernard, stubborn as he was, wouldn't admit it.  
"Bernard, Bernard!" Bernard snapped out of his drozy state to snap awake and stare right into his boss' eyes. "Are you paying attention to anything I'm saying?" Bernard quickly nodded, not wanting his boss to think anything was wrong. Santa just looked sternly into his eyes, but didn't press the matter. It wasn't until Carol pulled Santa into the hallway that he said something about it. "What is it Carol?"  
Carol looked at him as if he was nuts. "Scott," Carol began, using Santa's old name, "something is wrong with Bernard. From what I've heard from the other elves he's never acted like this, never! I think something's wrong."  
"Oh now Carol, he's just probably just getting bored with what I'm saying. That's happened before."  
"Scott, I really think something is wrong."  
"Nonsense! Bernard's fit as a fiddle, there's absolutely nothing." but his words were cut short as he heard a dull thud, and Curtis yelping. "BERNARD!" Santa and Carol quickly exchanged glances before storming back in the room to find Curtis kneeling over an unconscious Bernard, who seemed to have passed out. Santa glanced over at Carol, who had a superior 'I- Told-You-So' look on her face before running over to Bernard's side and, lifting him up, rested him on the bed. *Ok, something's definitely wrong.* Santa thought, quickly running over to the phone to call up two of his friends, the Sand Man and the Tooth Fairy. *He's never passed out before.*  
  
It didn't take long for Sand Man, Tooth Fairy and out of the blue, Mother Nature to arrive on the scene. "Sleep deprivation." Said Sand Man after all three of them had examined him. "He hasn't been getting any sleep for the past few days."  
"The lack of sleep weakened his body. He should have lasted longer though before passing out." Tooth Fairy began, before being interrupted by Curtis.  
"He had to jump out the way of a run away reindeer this morning." Curtis pointed out. "He used his fancy 'samurai jump', ya know, the one with the flip in the air?" Mother Nature just chuckled, muttering something along the lines of 'he's still got it' before getting up out the chair next to his bed.  
"I suggest he heads home." Mother Nature said, removing Bernard's beret and dampening a cloth. "Work must be getting to him." She placed the dampened cloth on his head, making him stir. Slowly, he opened his eyes, slightly surprised to see three of the Legendary Council members standing over him.  
"Wha. what happened?" He muttered, reaching up to rub head. "Ugh. My head hurts. correction, my whole body hurts."  
"He did hit the floor pretty hard."  
"Curtis, be quiet so I can think."  
"Yes sir."  
Jumbles of words and sentences entered Bernard's ears, not making any sense as he tried to get his bearings. The last thing he remembered was his eyesight becoming all fuzzy, and blackness taking over his vision. He then remembered closing his eyes and falling, and the last thing he remembered was pain shooting through him as he hit the floor. He tried to reach up and rub his sore head, but his arms felt as if they were made of lead. In fact, his whole body felt weak. "What happened?" He moaned, blinking a couple time to clear his vision. "Did I black out?"  
It was Curtis who spoke. "Yeah, you scared me there Bernard! You're usually so healthy. What's been going on?" Bernard didn't say anything; instead he just turned away from Curtis with a weird look of self disgust. Mother Nature could tell by the look in his eyes what he was thinking. *Should I tell them? No, they'll never understand. I don't even understand it myself. Why would she be bothering me after thirty years?*  
"Bernard?" Bernard turned towards Mother Nature, who had an understanding look on her face. "Take a nap; we'll go out side to talk. And after you wake up, we're going to send you home, OK?" Santa could tell that Bernard was not happy about this proposal. But Bernard strangely didn't protest. He only muttered an 'OK' before turning over and falling asleep. Abby, the cocoa elf was asked to stay with him until he woke up or when they came back, whichever came first. With care not to wake the elf, they crept outside, where Santa demanded to know what was wrong with his head elf.  
"What's wrong with him?" Santa bellowed once they were within a well ranged distance from the room cause of Bernard's superior hearing. "I can't have my Head Elf out like this! I want to know what's wrong!"  
"Santa, calm down!" Pleaded Tooth Fairy, waving his hands in the air, trying to calm his old friend down. "Truth be told, I don't know why he's like this. Could be work, could be his marriage isn't working. And every elf here knows about his and his wife's maternity problems."  
"Whoa, whoa! Back up! Bernard's married?!"  
"Why yes, hasn't he told you?" Mother Nature asked, sitting at the base of a large Toy Soldier statue. "Last Christmas Eve marked his and Rebecca's thirtieth wedding anniversary." She held out a picture which had been hidden in the branches that adorned her dress. It showed a younger Bernard, dressed in black with silver trim and trinkets. He still wore the dark green beret on his head, but without the small medal with the ribbon on it. "This was before he became Head Elf. He didn't officially become Head Elf until the Santa at the time returned from delivering presents. This is his wife, Rebecca." She pointed to the young elf maiden standing next to him, holding his arm and looking very happy. She had long, slightly curly black hair that reached to about her mid back. She had vivid green eyes, reminding Santa very much of Christmas wreaths. She was dressed entirely in white, a white down cloak draped over her shoulders, similar to the cloak that Carol had worn when she and Scott had gotten married.  
"She's beautiful." Santa mused, looking over the picture. "She and Bernard look very happy in this. I bet they love each other very much."  
"So much she would probably know what's bothering him, like work or the fact they're having problems having kids." Mother Nature said, unaware of soft footsteps coming up behind her.  
"Yes, actually I do know what's bothering him. And it's not the fact that I can't get pregnant." All of them spun around to look face to face with a young woman, looking to be in her early twenties, much like Bernard. She was wearing the cloak she was wearing in the photo, with white rabbit fur trim added, her hood off showing her pointy ears. She was looking rather upset, her eyes not showing the same glow they had soon in the photo.  
"You say you know why Bernard's not himself?" Sand Man asked before stifling a large yawn. She nodded, still looking slightly upset.  
"He's been haunted by nightmares for almost over a week now. The nightmares are always memories of someone from his past." Rebecca said, taking a seat next to Mother Nature. "Someone who was a close friend to him. Some lost because her mother had gone insane."  
Mother Nature gasped. "Oh no, you don't mean."  
"Yes, I do mean her. Her name was Samara Morgan, the Girl who Never Sleeps, and she's been dead for thirty years." 


	3. Burning Hand

Chapter 3: Burning Hand  
  
Bernard woke up several hours later in his own bed. Kirara, his pet cat demon whom his brother, Zephyr gave him when he and Rebecca first got married, was lying quietly on the pillow next to him, her eyes closed. Bernard blinked a few times to clear his vision to see Rebecca sitting in a chair next to his bed, appearing to be reading. She was slumped forward in her chair, an open book in her lap. Her long black hair covered her face. But when Bernard sat up in bed, he saw that her eyes were closed, and she was breathing softly. He smiled and reached over, resting his hand on her knee and shaking it slightly. "Becca, Becca." Rebecca opened her eyes, reaching up a hand and removed some of her hair from her face. She looked up at Bernard, relief spreading over her face as she stared into his eyes.  
"Are you alright now, Bernardo?" She asked, her Spanish accent music to Bernard's ears.  
"Yes, I'm feeling much better. Still tired though." He replied as she reached up and brushed away some loose hairs from his face. He was beginning to feel weak again, his arms feeling as of they were turning into lead, and he couldn't really move his legs. "I don't think I'll be going back to work anytime soon though, at least not to work." Rebecca smiled and nodded, her hand resting on his. "I the elves can get stuff done without me."  
"I believe that they should be fine." Rebecca answered, pushing him back onto the bed and bringing the covers up to his chin. "Just get some sleep. I want you to be alright." Bernard smiled, his eyes slowly closing. Kirara woke up, yawning broadly and moved over to lie in the crook of neck, her two tails laying over his neck and her head resting on his shoulder. The feel of Kirara's soft fur against his skin made him very cozy and warm, making him even more drozy. It was at this point that Rebecca decided to sing Bernard one of his favorite songs. The song was from a movie that Bernard had gone to see with Santa's son Charlie after the whole Toy Santa incident, as part of an apology for not listening to Bernard's advice about the whole idea from Santa.  
Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed, took a deep breath and sang:  
  
Lay down  
  
Your sweet and weary head  
  
Night has fallen  
  
You've come to journeys end  
  
* * *  
  
Sleep now  
  
And dream of the ones who came before  
  
They are calling  
  
From across the distant shore  
  
* * *  
  
Why do you weep?  
  
What are these tears upon your face?  
  
Soon you will see  
  
All of your fears will pass away  
  
* * *  
  
Safe in my arms  
  
You're only sleeping  
  
* * *  
  
What can you see?  
  
On the Horizon  
  
Why do the white gulls call?  
  
Across the sea  
  
A pale moon rises  
  
The ships have come to carry you home  
  
* * *  
  
Dawn will turn  
  
To silver glass  
  
A light on the water  
  
All souls pass  
  
* * *  
  
Hope fades  
  
Into the world of night  
  
Through shadows falling  
  
Out of memory and time  
  
* * *  
  
Don't say  
  
We have come now to the end  
  
White shores are calling  
  
You and I will meet again  
  
* * *  
  
And you'll be here in my arms  
  
Just sleeping  
  
* * *  
  
What can you see?  
  
On the horizon  
  
Why do the white gulls call?  
  
Across the sea  
  
A pale moon rises  
  
The ships have come  
  
To carry you home  
  
* * *  
  
And all will turn  
  
To silver glass  
  
A light on the water  
  
Gray ships pass  
  
Into the west.  
  
* * *  
  
That seemed to do the trick, because as soon as Rebecca finished singing, Bernard was fast asleep, breathing softly. She smiled, bent forward and kissed him gently on the lips and walked out of the room to make something to eat. What she didn't know was that Bernard was going into another vision of the past.  
  
Bernard found himself sitting on what looked like to be a wooden fence, horses galloping around behind him. He was wearing the clothes he used to wear back in the 1970's, his hair slightly shorter and he didn't have his hat on. He was looking around the area, a grassy field bordered by a forest. But as his gaze shifted from the sides to the middle, Bernard could see a round well. Sitting on the rim off the well, facing away from him, no, the horses was a girl around the age of twelve, maybe ten at the youngest. She had long dark hair, and a white dress. The skin that showed on her arms was pale, and looked cold. Bernard slowly lowered himself from the fence and walked forward towards the girl. "Samara." The dream him called, walking forward.  
"Turn away, run!" As an elf, Bernard could understand horse speech. The horses were scared, calling for him to turn away. The only reason they had been calm with the girl around was because the elf was present.  
"Samara." Bernard called again, getting closer to her.  
"Get away from her! Run away!"  
But the dream Bernard didn't listen, instead he reached out a hand and rested it on her shoulder. But as soon as his hand touched her, her own hand shot up and grabbed his arm, slipping under his shirt sleeves and gripping hard onto his skin. Burning sensations run through the area where she touched. But Bernard didn't yank it away, instead he froze and the scene changed, and as if he saw it with his own eyes, he saw Samara sitting alone in a white room, wires running from her head before he blacked out.  
  
Bernard shot up straight in his bed, accidentally throwing Kirara onto the chair at his desk across from the bed. She hissed slightly before stopping herself, seeing the look of torment and fear in Bernard's eyes and the color from his face drained. Bernard breathed hard for a few seconds before breathing a sign of relief, but he sighed too soon, as a fading, but still strong burning sensation on his arm finally got his attention. Bernard gulped, and slowly pushed up the sleeve of his nightshirt, and what he saw made a chill run down his spine. There, burned onto his arm, was an unmistakable burn mark in the shape of a girl's hand. And it was in the same place that Samara grabbed him, in his dream. 


	4. Why Is She After Him?

Chapter 4: Why Is She After Him?  
  
Rebecca sat at the kitchen table, waiting, wondering. Why was Samara after Bernard like this? It didn't make any sense. Bernard had long since told Rebecca of Samara's feelings for him, but to scare him to death, that just didn't seem to fit together. One of the Elvenwoods' two normal cats, a white long haired female named Snowbell, sat in the chair next to her, her paws on the table top. Rebecca looked at her and laughed, reaching over and stroking the cat's head. Snowbell purred and leapt over onto her lap, curling into a ball. Rebecca knew she was just a cat, but a smart cat, and that she was trying to make her feel better. Rebecca picked Snowbell up and walked over to the window. Snow was falling again, as it usually was after four days, to replenish the snow that had melted from the numerous warm feet that marched over it everyday.  
Even though Rebecca had lived in the Pole for thirty years since she and Bernard first got married, she was getting sock of seeing snow everyday. She longed to return home, to Spain in the summer. Watch her father make beautiful rings and her brother make swords. Her mother made rugs and tapestries to put in the houses of the wealthy.  
Rebecca sat on a chair facing the window and twirled her wedding ring on her finger, a ring her father had made. It was made of the finest silver, a net of it laced over a bright ruby inset in the band. Bernard had picked the stone out, and he chose well. Rebecca always loved rubies and roses. Her engagement ring was a normal human one with a ruby in it, and the bouquet she had in her wedding was made of roses. Bernard had chosen them. He tried so hard to make her happy, including trying numerous times to get her pregnant.  
She had always wanted to have a baby, but no matter how many times they tried, she couldn't conceive. They were actually at the point where they were thinking about Bernard trying to get some time off from work and for them to consult a doctor in the human world. But then the Toy Santa incident happened, and Bernard was needed for the clean up and to help get things back in order. Well, the work was at all unwelcome. Rebecca knew the kind of pain Bernard went through when she at one point had conceived, but had a miscarriage. The look of pain in his eyes when he saw her sobbing and mourning the death of her baby told her everything. He was afraid of hurting her again. And there was nothing worse about death but the death of your own child. *"A parent should never have to be the one to bury their child."* She remembered Bernard saying after they returned home from the hospital. She remembered he had felt the same way about when Samara had died.  
He didn't look happy for days, and he didn't talk for hours since he came back from walking the grounds that day. Samara had been a close friend, like a daughter to Bernard. Rebecca remembered the plan Bernard had come up with when they first got engaged. Bernard had been thinking of adopting Samara from her foster parents and having her as their daughter. But then she died. Bernard didn't even tell Rebecca how she died until she found him crying, sitting on the bed alone during their honeymoon. "Samara," Rebecca said aloud, looking out the window at the elves happily playing outside, "why are you hurting him? Why are you hurting my husband? The man you loved yourself?"  
  
"Whoa, whoa! You want me to what?!" A sixteen year old girl with dirty blonde hair asked a large, burly black stallion as she sat in her kitchen. It was almost midnight, and the girl was getting tired. She had been talking to this horse for several hours now, trying to get a grip on what he wanted her to do.  
"I want you to help this couple. This woman's spouse is being haunted by dreams that are keeping him awake to the point where he's bed ridden. She's getting worried about him. She needs your help." The horse replied, taking a quick sip of hot chocolate from a bowl in front of him.  
"Dogma, I'm a psychiatrist for the supernatural. I've helped Jason and Freddy Kruger! I am not a marriage consular!" The girl snapped, jabbing her thumb back to a plaque on the wall behind her.  
"The problem, Erin, revolves around something of the supernatural kind." Dogma replied. "And as the Elemental of Death and Lord of the Underworld, Rehemoram, this girl really needs to come to peace with herself."  
Erin stopped moving looking at Dogma with a growing realization in her eyes. "Wait..... *her*... You don't mean."  
"Yes, I do mean her."  
"Dogma, do you even remember my reaction to the movie? I couldn't sleep well for months! I could go near water except a shower and the toilet for weeks, I couldn't stay in a room with a blank TV for long, and I can't even look at horses the same way again!" Dogma just scowled at her.  
"Yet you became a psychiatrist for the supernatural, which is mostly the ghosts of the dead." The horse demon pointed out. "You've helped Freddy Kruger, and Jason, that is true. Both to me seem more deadly then the girl." Erin shivered. She didn't like where Dogma was going with this, and she knew she wouldn't like taking the job.  
"Because the methods of killing that Freddy and Jason used were understandable and cliché!" Erin retorted. "That and I haven't seen the movies. But the way this girl kills is just plain creepy..."  
"And you have seen the movie, which means you know a lot about this girl's past." Dogma stated, finishing her sentence. "I'll try to get someone she liked to help you, to at least make things a little easier on yourself."  
Erin let out a deep throated growl. Dogma was pushing on her nerves. But he had a point. "Fine..." She finally said, throwing her hands up in defeat. "I'll do it, I'll help her. I'll help Samara Morgan."  
  
Rebecca sat, asleep in the den. It was getting late, and she knew she should head to bed soon. But before she could get herself to the bedroom, she had drifted off to sleep while she cross-stitched. It was strangely quiet in the house. Usually small clicks and whirls were heard from Bernard's work room on a normal day, but as he was stuck in bed, it was silent.  
Stormy, another one of the Elvenwood cats, a large long, grey haired cat slunk towards his sleeping mistress, knowing it was time for her to go tot bed. But as he reached up to paw her leg, a strange static sound reached his ears. He knew it couldn't be the TV; it hadn't been working right for ages, and wasn't fixed now as Bernard had been working on it since the Toy Santa incident, and since then hadn't found time to work on it. So what was making that noise? Stormy peeked around the ottoman to find it WAS the TV, a salt-n-pepper war raging on the screen, and every so often, the screen would flicker, and an image of a stone, round well could be seen for a few seconds before the static took over again.  
Stormy hissed. He knew something was wrong, but he failed at waking Rebecca with his screeching wails. She was dead to the world, unknowing the terror that lay in the television screen. With another hiss, Stormy ran to the master bedroom, where Bernard was still recovering from the shock of the burnt hand mark on his arm. The TV flickered back to the well, but stayed longer as it showed a girl slowly dragging herself from the depths of the well, her long, dark hair grazing the edge. The TV turned to static again, and then shot back to the well. The girl was out of the well now, standing straight in front of it, her head hung low, her hair covering her face. The TV once again went to static and returned, the girl now closer to the screen. Words were now audible, coming from within the depths of the thick hair. "Rebecca. I'm coming for you. You took him from me." This repeated two more times. The girl was now as close as she could get to the screen, reaching up her hand towards the screen. "Rebecca.. Rebecca. You took him from me." The girl's hand reached through the screen, out of the TV towards Rebecca, who was sitting two feet away from the television. She was still sleeping, oblivious to what was going on. The hand was slowly moving towards her, her fingers out stretched, almost to Rebecca's arm.  
"Rebecca?" Rebecca's eyes shot open and stared at the now blank screen. The hand was no where in sight, and the screen was totally blank. There was nothing but blackness now, and the TV wasn't even plugged in. Rebecca looked over to where the voice came. Standing in the hallway was Bernard, still slightly tired looked, wrapped in a bathrobe over his pajamas. "Rebecca, come on, it's time for bed." Bernard said, sounding exhausted. He yawned and walked over, taking his wife by the hand and leading her to bed. Rebecca knew Bernard should stay in bed no matter what at this point in time, but she was too tired to protest, and allowed him to lead her to the room. Behind her, the TV once again started to static. The girl was once again visible on the screen, her head now tilted up slightly so her face was showing. Her dark brown eyes showed complete malice and jealousy. "Rebecca." The girl mouthed, looked at the two in total rage. "You took him from me. You will pay.." 


	5. Realization

Chapter 5: Realization  
  
Kirara yawned. It had been rather uneventful that day. Bernard was sleeping quietly in bed, breathing softly, not a care in the world. Rebecca was out running errands and stopping by Bernard's work to give Santa a status report on Bernard's condition. Come to think of it, Bernard wasn't having a nightmare. Kirara couldn't see Bernard's eyes moving under his eyelids, a good indicator that he wasn't dreaming. For a few seconds, she stared hard at her master, thinking intently. The last time she saw him sleep this peacefully was when Rebecca had left to go get something for dinner after they got Bernard home from the workshop. He even slept well when she was all the way downstairs in the basement doing his laundry.  
Kirara racked her brain. She may have been a cat demon, but she was a damn smart cat demon. She guessed it came with being older then Bernard himself. She knew there was something wrong with this picture. She just didn't know what it was yet. It was then that Kirara remembered something from two nights before, the night before Bernard collapsed from exhaustion at work. He said his dreams were always about Samara Morgan, his friend from when he lived in the real world. Slowly, Kirara was piecing the puzzle together. Bernard's having nightmares about Samara, he has them only when Rebecca is around, and he never has them when she's gone. There had to be something else, there just had to be, either that, or the pieces didn't fit right. "Pieces of a puzzle are made to work together, for if one piece is missing, the puzzle is incomplete. Even the smallest, easily overlooked piece may hold the key to the puzzles meaning, and is useless when used alone."  
Kirara stiffened and looked over to the sound of the voice. In the doorway stood a man dressed in black. His face wasn't visible, covered by a mask and hood. He held a scythe in his hand, and dark black eyes looked back into Kirara's vivid red ones. Kirara hissed, the hair on the back of her neck rising as she showed her rows of sharp fangs. "There is no need for hatred, Kirara. I am here to bring a clue to finding the last piece of the puzzle. As for who I am, I am the Grin Reaper. But you can call me" he began, reaching up to remove his mask, "Hiltz." With this, the man removed his hood and mask to reveal a man looking to be about twenty five, with messy dark, red hair. He was fair skinned and handsome, now moving his scythe so the handle was resting against his shoulder, the point of the blade behind his back.  
Kirara looked on in wonder as Hiltz moved towards Bernard and sprinkled what looked like gold sand over him, which was absorbed into his skin, causing Bernard to go into an even deeper level of sleep. "He will sleep quietly now, without interrupting us." Hiltz said, now backing away from the bed. "Now then, I wish to speak with you Kirara, for if the truth was known to Rebecca or Bernard, I am afraid it would break their hearts. They must learn this on their own." Kirara nodded in understanding, and was surrounded in flames. The flames died, showing a much larger Kirara, flames surrounding her ankles and the tips of her two tails. Long, white, sparkling fangs protruded from her mouth, which she opened and let out a low roar.  
Even though she had never truly let it slip when she was around her humanoid companions, Kirara actually had the gift of human speech in her demon form. "What do you wish to talk to me about?" Kirara asked, her voice strangely British sounding.  
"I came to give you clues to the missing piece." Hiltz said again, leaning against the handle of his sickle. "The answer lies within her death." Kirara racked her brain again. All she remembered was that Bernard was the one who found her the day she died. She remembered that he was the last one she spoke to before slipping into the icy depths of the well. She knew that the reason that the girl was dead was because she had driven her mother insane. All Kirara knew was that Bernard had been Samara's friend, her only friend. He was the only person that cared for her. Bernard was even planning to make Samara his daughter when he and Rebecca got married before she died. Samara had not known of this plan. She had not known of Rebecca. Then, like a light had snapped on in her brain, she realized it. What if Samara had loved Bernard more then just as a friend? What if she was in love with him?  
"She was. in love. with him." Kirara said, now coming to the realization. "She's sending the nightmares to remind him of her." Kirara's eyes went wide as she realized what was happening to her beloved master. "She's jealous of Rebecca! That's why she's sending the nightmares only when Rebecca's near! She thinks Bernard will figure it out and leave her to get rid of the dreams! That would give Samara an opening to kill her, and make Bernard her's!" Kirara said, looking up at Hiltz, realization finally turning on like a light. Hiltz smiled and nodded.  
"You got it quicker then I thought you would, my dear demon." Hiltz said, a hint of pride in his voice. "Sango was right when she said you were the smartest one of their little group." Kirara, upon hearing the name of one of her former masters, looked up at Hiltz in question, but he said no more of the demon exterminator. "Let not Bernard bend to Samara's foolish ways," Hiltz warned, pointing at the cat yaokai, "for if she succeeds, more then one elf will lose their life, and someone else shall succeed in this deadly game of chess." Kirara nodded, a serious look now crossing her face. And with that, a cloud of smoke surrounded Hiltz, and disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a piece of paper, a name and a number scribbled on it.  
  
Rebecca tiredly opened the door to the house and shuffled in. It had been a hard day. She had agreed to help around the workshop that day, in order to help make up for Bernard's absence from work. Now she knew why Bernard was beginning to get stressed, even before Samara had started to haunt him, it was harder work then she thought. She sighed and dropped the heavy grocery bags on the table. At the sound of the bags hitting the wooden surface, Kirara came ambling out of the bedroom, now back as a normal sized cat. The piece of paper that Hiltz had left behind was folded and hidden in her collar, its yellowish white color blending in with her fur. "Buenos Tardes Kirara." Rebecca said, picking up the cat demon and scratching her behind the ears. "Did Bernardo sleep well?" Kirara made a small meow, as in a 'yes' and leapt down onto the floor, her face screwed up into a sad look, but Rebecca, who was rather flustered, did not notice. "I've been looking on the workshop computer data banks about Samara when I was at the workshop." Rebecca said as she started to unload the shopping bags. "I couldn't find anything that might have made her send Bernardo these dreams." Kirara made another small meow before stalking off, but only after she told the other two cats to keep an eye out for the girl in white.  
Rebecca, perplexed, watched Kirara walk to the master bedroom, a look on her face of deep thought. Shrugging it off, she continued to unload to groceries. It wasn't long before the static sound and the sound of Snowbell's and Stormy's hissing caught her attention. Slowly she turned around, her eyes wide in wonder as her eyes settled on the TV screen, which was once again having a salt-n-pepper war. Rebecca's face screwed up in a look of puzzlement as she walked towards the TV. She didn't find anything fishy about it, thinking Bernard had found some energy and fixed it, until she looked at the plug. Her eyes went wide; the plug wasn't in the outlet.  
  
The screen then started to flicker, showing a picture of a round well, a girl wearing a white dress with long dark hair sitting on the edge. The girl's hair was covering her face, but Rebecca didn't need the face to know who it was. She could tell who this girl was. Bernard had a picture of her in one of their photo albums. "Samara." She whispered, oddly unable to stop herself as she moved closer to the TV set.  
The cats continued their hissing, letting out screeching wails every now and then, trying to break Rebecca out of her trance. It wasn't working, as Rebecca continued to move forward. The screen was now staying on the picture of the girl, the sounds of what seemed like a gruesome poem echoing from her lips..  
  
The horses' wails  
  
And swishing tails  
  
Are music to my ears  
  
Screaming, and deceiving  
  
Their cry is wreathing  
  
Adding to their fears  
  
Let them plunge to a watery death  
  
Let water make up their last breath  
  
Make them suffer  
  
Make them pay  
  
For making me die that day  
  
Momma hated me  
  
Killing me off  
  
My favorite vision  
  
Is daddy's head chopped off  
  
But she is the one I hate most  
  
Taking my love, my hearts host  
  
For the one that will breathe in watery air  
  
Will be the elven maiden  
  
With the raven black hair  
  
Rebecca, obviously not hearing the poem continued walking towards the screen, her hand out stretched, her eyes glazed over. "Rebecca." Samara called, her head slowly tilting back so her eyes were visible, "You will pay. You took him from me.. I want him back." Rebecca continued walking forward, her body becoming uncontrolled, but her mind becoming clear. *No, leave me alone!* She screamed in her head, unable to control herself as she continued to her death. *Stop! Stop please!* But she continued forward, but before she was within Samara's reach, a great pounding came from the bedroom as Kirara, now in full demon form, barreled from the bedroom and slammed into Rebecca, causing her to fly into the wall, breaking Samara's control over her.  
Upon reaching consciousness, Rebecca looked up and Kirara, who was staring back at her with a look of worry on her face. Almost immediately the TV turned to static again, until finally going blank. It took Rebecca only three seconds to realize what was going on. Something clicked in her head, and with a choked sob, she buried her face into Kirara's mane, saying through her sobs, "It's because of me.. Bernardo's suffering because of me.." 


	6. Savior

Chapter 6: Savior  
  
Rebecca sat at the edge of the bed next to Bernard as he continued to sleep. He wasn't suffering from a nightmare again, which was a good sign that when Samara decided not to send them, she didn't send them that day. Kirara sat at her feet, now a small cat once again as she stared up at her master sadly, watching as tears of sorrow and grief ran down the elf maiden's cheeks as she waited for her husband to awaken. Kirara mewed and pawed at Rebecca's dress, trying to comfort her hurting master as she cried. All the while, terrible thoughts ran through Rebecca's head as she wondered how she was going to tell her husband why he was having the nightmares in the first place. *What if he gets angry?* Rebecca thought, her form hunched over, arms crossed as she hugged herself. *What if he decides he no longer loves me because of this? What if he leaves me forever.* Rebecca could no longer bare it, her emotions threatening to get the best of her when she felt a warm hand on her thigh. She blinked and looked up along the arm in which the hand belonged to see Bernard looking at her, a concerned look crossed over his tired face.  
His face was pale now, sickness started to inhibit his body from the lack of sleep, and lack of exercise. Dark rings were under his still bright, chocolate brown eyes as he looked up in worry in the deep recesses of Rebecca's rich, grass green ones. "Rebecca? Honey, what's wrong?" Rebecca's eyes overflowed, and her lips trembled as she just threw herself on him, only saying, "Oh Bernardo!" before burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing. Bernard, a little surprised by this sign of affection/sorrow, just wrapped his arms around his crying wife, rubbing her back gently, muttering to her, "It's going to be alright, everything is going to be fine."  
  
The Elvenwood's sat at their small, redwood kitchen table, a steaming cup of hot coffee in front of them, untouched as Rebecca finished telling the story of how Samara had tried to kill her. Bernard, who was listening intently, scowled angrily down at his coffee mug, as if it was the one making them suffer. "She wants to kill ME, Bernardo, because she still loves you. She's jealous of me and thinks it will all go away if she makes you suffer for loving me in the first place.."  
"Don't be stupid Rebecca." Rebecca stopped mid sentence to look at her husband, immediately wishing she didn't at the look Bernard had on his face as he continued to stare down into the black swirling bits of coffee beans in his cup. "It's nobody's fault, nobody's but Samara's." Rebecca's thin, black eyebrows were almost lost to the curly locks of hair hanging over her face. Bernard had never blamed Samara for anything, never. Even when he had been late to a few dates back in the day when he had been visiting her he blamed traffic, even though the real reason was to make sure Samara wasn't going to do anything drastic. "She's always wanted her way. She wanted to destroy the horses to make her father love her. She sent her mother those images to get her attention, when all it got her was a room in a loony bin. Now, she's making me suffer because I love you." Rebecca frowned. This wasn't her Bernard at all, this the war hardened Bernard she was looking at, one who had seen too much bloodshed when he had trained himself the ways of the sword, one who had watched his mother slaughtered right before his eyes when he was a boy, one who watched his best friend die from the eye of a basilisk.  
Rebecca, cautiously at first, reached her hand over and rested it on Bernard's knee. Bernard, the look on his face softening just slightly at Rebecca's touch, looked down and rested his own hand on top of her's, looking up at her with a smile on his face and a look of understanding in his eyes. "And she should understand by now," Bernard began, reaching over and pulling Rebecca's face close to him, caressing her cheek with his fingers, "I would rather die then see you hurt." With that, he moved forward, capturing Rebecca in a heated kiss. Rebecca's eyes, opened with shock, welled with tears as they closed and she pressed her lips against his. Bernard pulled away, far enough to speak, but close enough for his lips to graze hers. "This man has found his mate, and he isn't going to let her go for anything." Rebecca smiled and kissed him again, glad that her husband understood. They hadn't kissed this sweetly since Bernard had returned from being help prisoner by Toy Santa, but it was more then welcome.  
Bernard pulled away and stood up, taking Rebecca along with him and holding her close, kissing her again. It was tempting in a romantic moment like this for Bernard to take Rebecca right then and there, but he was still tired, and it was taking most of his strength just to stand at the moment. He broke away for the last time and pressed his forehead against her's, gazing into her eyes as he sighed. "I wish there was someway to make stop." Rebecca sighed as well and wrapped her arms around his neck. They gazed into each others eyes for the longest time until Bernard felt a small tug on his pant leg. Pulling his gaze from Rebecca he looked down to see Kirara looking up at him, her black paws lost to the fabric of his pants, a piece of paper in her mouth.  
Bernard looked at Rebecca questionably, who shrugged and bent down and retrieved the paper from Kirara's mouth before Kirara leapt into Bernard's arms. "It looks like a business card." Rebecca said, looking at the card, its edges scorched. Bernard looked at the paper, puzzled, his finger running over the black diamond shaped marking on Kirara's forehead. The small cat demon purred as Bernard took the card into his hands and read.  
  
Erin Prazan Psychiatrist for the Supernatural Office: St. Paul, Missouri  
2374 So. Benson Ave. 34512 Number:  
Phone: 563-223-4633  
Cell: 563-453-2476  
  
"A Psychiatrist for the Supernatural?" Bernard asked, scanning the card several times. "Kirara, where did you get this?" The cat demon just meowed, as if telling Bernard she couldn't speak human.  
"Bernard, there's a note on the back." Rebecca said, noticing a name and a message written in neat handwriting. Bernard flipped the card over, reading the note.  
  
Elvenwood family  
  
I believe this help might be appreciated as I am a reaper of souls. It is Samara's turn, and I need help in saving her soul. This girl has been assigned to help Samara, but she cannot do it by herself. Bernard, I hope you will accept the task of helping her. For Samara's sake.  
  
The Grim Reaper  
  
"The Grim Reaper?!" Bernard and Rebecca echoed in unison as Bernard dropped the card in shock. "The Grim Reaper was here?" Bernard asked the cat demon, who opened a tired eye and nodded. With a yawn and stretch, Kirara leapt from Bernard's arms onto the floor, and walking away a good distance, became her full demon form  
"He was here, and he told me why Samara was after you, sending you the dreams and such. After he disappeared, he left that card. Give her a call." Kirara said, sitting on the floor in front of them, nodding towards the phone.  
Bernard looked over uneasily at his wife, who looked as equally uneasy, but nodded, encouraging him. Bernard picked up the card and picked up the phone. Quickly dialing the number, he waiting for through the rings, until he heard a click and a female voice coming over from the other end. "This is Miss. Prazan's office, Psychiatrist for the Supernatural. This is Yuzuki speaking, how may I help you?"  
"Hello, Yuzuki, I received a card with your bosses number on it and was told to call about a girl that is supposed to be helped by this clinic." Bernard explained, his fingers squeezing the card.  
"Ah, you must be speaking of Miss. Morgan. Yes, I shall go retrieve Miss. Prazan for you. Please hold." With that, there was another click and the instrumental version of "Desert Rose" came through the receiver. It didn't take long for Yuzuki to retrieve the woman, as another female voice came over the phone. "Hello, this is Erin Prazan. May I ask who is calling?" Bernard froze. The voice on the other line wasn't of a woman; it was a girl's voice. Judging, the girl sounded only to be about seventeen.  
"Uh. My name is Bernard Elvenwood. I was given a card with your name and number on it and was told to give you a call about helping you with a Miss. Samara Morgan." There was a long pause on the other line, the sounds of papers being flipped through coming over the line.  
"Ah yes. I believe you were a close friend of Samara's. Yes, you were recommended by one of my assistants. I believe you know him, a Zephyr Elvenwood?"  
"My brother? What's my brother doing there?"  
"Yes, Zephyr has a connection with one of the people I work for. He has agreed to help me with this case." Erin said, as she started scribbling information on a piece of paper. "We were hoping you might be able to help us with Samara, as to make her more comfortable with us as she's undergoing treatment."  
Bernard took a few moments to think it over. Samara might feel better with Bernard there, but he was afraid of leaving Rebecca home alone during a time like this. "This might take me some time to think over. I don't really want to bring my wife along, beings Samara doesn't like her much, and I can't leave her home alone because the reason she's going over the edge is because of my marriage."  
"Understood, and to help you with your decision, one of Zephyr's friends has agreed to take her to your birth place for the time being until this is cleared up. I believe your father would like to meet her."  
"Ah yes, arigato!" Bernard exclaimed excitedly, his eyes becoming bright. "I accept then. I believe she should be safe there."  
"Excellent! I would suggest getting some rest for the time being. I'll have Zephyr come retrieve you in a week." With that, the line went dead. Bernard sighed. This would be better then he thought, and with that thought, he stuffed the card into his robe pocket and kissed his wife, happy for the help of a savior.  
  
A/N: Ok, time for explanations. I was flamed for this and I believe I should owe some people an apology for this. Some people I believe are not too happy with this fandom pairing and I respect their opinion, even though I am going to continue this story. But I am a writer who comes up with the weirdest fandom pairings imaginable, and that is just how it is. If you have a problem with it, tough, ignore me and never think of my fics again.  
  
Now I believe it's time for some explaining. When I mentioned Bernard being a samurai, I didn't mean him being a true samurai. He wasn't trained by someone the ways of the sword, he taught them to himself. He wanted to help the Meiji Era build, but as he wasn't Japanese, he decided to teach himself sword fighting and disguised himself to make him look Japanese, such as a straw hat and a sash over his face. He could not have trained under someone to learn sword techniques because samurai had strong laws, and those who were not Japanese cannot learn the ways of the sword, because as my "flamer" put it, "even if your Tom Cruise or David Krumholtz, or if you are saved by them or even if you can sing 'Luck be a Lady' in your underwear."  
  
The reason for the Lord of the Rings references through out the fic, is that I somewhat merged the Santa Clause with the Lord of the Rings. Such as, Bernard used to be known as Elrodo Elvenwood, and lived in Lothlòrien until he was taken for his own safety after his mother was killed. His brother, Zephyr, and his father still live in Lothlòrien. The song Rebecca sings is "Into the West" from Return of the King. I couldn't think of a song that sounded more like a lullaby then that one, so I used it. As for quoting Théoden in chapter 4, Théoden wasn't at all far from the truth when he said what he said. I used it because it was true, and I have heard other people say it.  
  
OK, enough of that. I promise I should be introducing Samara as a regular character soon, and more of the mystery should be unraveling as the plot continues. 


End file.
